The Trinity – Love in a time of darkness
The mystery of the Trinity is unique and special to Christianity. Only Christians believe in one God who exists in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Although our belief in the Blessed Trinity is a central Dogma of our faith, it is also one that we struggle to understand and to explain.
On the one hand, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons. But, they are one eternal God, not three gods.
The Church teaches us there is one nature in God, there are two processions, three persons, and four relationships in the Blessed Trinity.
One nature means that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share one nature – the divine nature. They are one God.
Two processions means that the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And four relationships. The Father actively generates the Son from all eternity. The Son is generated of the Father eternally. The Father and the Son send forth the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is sent forth from the Father and the Son.
Although the nature of the Trinity is so important and unique, the Church does not give us readings from scripture that seem to help us understand the Blessed Trinity. Instead, what do we hear?
We hear that God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and faithful to promises, even with a people who just finished worshipping a golden calf.
We hear that our God is a God of love and peace, who wants us to share in that love.
We hear that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so we could be saved, and not condemned.
There are many other parts of scripture the Church could have chosen for this Sunday devoted to the Blessed Trinity, but the Church chooses to show us the love of God.
God loves us, and the Father and the Son love one another. God created us to love us, and created us to love God. It is said that the love between the Father and the Son is so perfect, that it becomes an eternal person – the Holy Spirit. Saint John even teaches us that “God is Love.”
If we can get this right, everything else can follow. But, if we do not get this right… if we do not grasp and believe and live the reality of God’s love… we miss everything.
God loves us.
God loves me.
God loves you.
God loves the protestors, and the rioters, and the good cops, and the bad cops, and even the politicians.
We live in a culture that is strongly divided. Some of those divisions are natural, and good. Most of those divisions are the result of sin.
God desires that we mend our ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, and live in peace. Those of us who are parents understand this in a special way. We love our children. We want them to live rightly, to encourage one another, to agree with one another, and to live in peace.
The enemy of our souls desires the opposite. The enemy desires that we are convinced that our own thoughts and ways are already perfect. The enemy desires that we tear one another down, and that we strive to prove one another wrong. The enemy desires that we reject peace, and embrace violence and hatred.
Where there are injustices – and there ARE injustices – we are called to repentance, and sometimes to defend the defenseless. We are called to admit that we are wicked, sinful, and stubborn. We are called to remember that Jesus did not come to condemn us, but to save us. Jesus, who was perfect, does not condemn us. He loves and saves us.
Without love, injustice begets injustice, violence begets violence, hatred begets hatred. But love begets love. Love converts our hearts, which is the only way that injustice, violence, and hatred can be defeated. Force can drive injustice, violence, and hatred into hiding, but only love can ultimately defeat them.
Martin Luther King, Jr preached that “darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” And, this is because “love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
We see a lot of darkness around us. We see the darkness of racism. We see those with the duty to protect and to serve, instead assault and abuse. We see those who protect and serve faithfully condemned because of the actions of people they do not know, in places and times where they have never lived. We see people condemned as enemies of those for whom they hold only good will.
In many ways, we are helpless. What can my local police officer do about abusive officers in a state far away? Dr King says that riot is the language of the unheard, but how can I listen, so that riot is unnecessary?
But we are not entirely helpless.
We can love our neighbors by standing up for those treated unjustly, starting right here in our own families and in our own community.
We can admit that we are flawed and broken, and seek the grace of repentance.
We can refuse to participate in arguments, and instead listen to one another.
We can bring grace, love, and peace to those we meet in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
